DeKalb Times

State Representative Tony McCombie announced that the U.S. Supreme Court "has DECLINED to hear a set of challenges to Illinois Democrats’ firearms ban for now." She made this announcement in a July 2 Facebook post.

"https://www.facebook.com/mccombieforillinois/posts/pfbid0284vVWJZdhPTGLaW2ViFXYKaQVdWGbU5G2v2QF5pDjXZ49LPZjbruJm4zJZEh3cxbl," said Tony M. Mccombie, State Representative for 89th District (R), according to Facebook.

In her post, McCombie shared a link to an article from the Chicago Sun-Times. According to the article, a federal judge in Southern Illinois is preparing for a trial on September 16, which could potentially bring the law back before the Supreme Court. Justice Clarence Thomas stated that state courts "must offer more guidance on which weapons the Second Amendment covers." He made this statement on July 2 when the court announced it would not hear challenges to the assault weapons ban enacted in January 2023.

CBS News reported that Supreme Court justices declined both to block the law and to hear those challenges. According to CBS, Justice Samuel Alito would have heard the case on the ban’s constitutionality. "It is difficult to see how the Seventh Circuit could have concluded that the most widely owned semiautomatic rifles are not ‘Arms’ protected by the Second Amendment," wrote Thomas.

House Bill 5855, also known as the "Protect Illinois Communities Act," regulates the sale and distribution of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and switches. According to information from the Illinois State Police page on the act, individuals who owned these items prior to its enactment were required to submit an endorsement affidavit through their Firearms Owner Identification Card account.

Tony McCombie was elected to represent individuals living in Illinois' 71st District in 2016. She is a lifelong resident of Savanna, Illinois, and earned a Bachelor of Arts from Western Illinois University. She owns and operates Blue Appraisals and is a real estate broker with MelFoster Company. Her previous political experience includes serving as mayor of Savanna and as a councilor on the Savanna City Council.